Stranger Danger Part 2

“Would you ladies excuse me for a minute? I will right back,” Hunter said, with a warm smile. “Time to ‘break the seal’ as Ally would say” The girls laughed and shooed him away, continuing their discussion of Thana’s day at work. Thana was telling Allessia about a guy that had came in to meet with her, hoping to hire her as his agent.

Hunter walked away from the table, heading towards the restrooms, fumbling through his pockets for his cell phone. As he approached the restrooms, he quickly glanced around. There was a small group of women a few feet from him, engrossed in their own conversation. Seeing no one who may notice, he leaned into the corner of the wall, and felt a biting cold wash through his body as the shadows enveloped him instantly.

‘Ahhh,’ he thought. ‘Much better.’ He was always more comfortable in the shadows, away from prying eyes and curious ears. The corner was just a touch darker now than it had been moments before, but not enough to make anyone look twice, but he desperately needed privacy to make his call. With an easy flex of his mind, he pushed his power out about 15 feet from his dark corner. The small congregation of women slowly started shifting away from the corner, back towards the bar. They continued their conversation, laughing and giggling, as if it was their own idea to suddenly go back for another round of drinks. Hidden once again, he quickly flipped the phone open while he continuously scanned the room for any sign of his brother Viktor. Viktor was the only one that he worried about. Viktor would spot him with no trouble at all.

He dialed the number from memory, and waited.

“Dragon’s Lair, this is Christi” a young woman answered.

“Master Jared, please,” he replied.

“Sure, just a sec” she said, and then the phone was filled with the haunting sound of a wooden flute. Few would know, but the flutist was actually Jared himself. Jared Thornton, or ‘Thor’ as he would come to be called, had been given the wooden flute as a gift while on a self discovery journey through the mountain villages of Nepal 35 years ago. A young woman gave it to him in thanks for his teachings and he treasured the crude instrument. Since he lost his vision 7 years ago, he has played that flute daily, always chilling and somber melodies.

The seconds seemed to drag as he waited in the dark. Thor would know it was Hunter calling, but he seemed to be taking the scenic route to the phone… after what seemed like a lifetime, the elder finally picked up.

“Good evening my child. I see you have found the girls again, splendid work. But do not spoil it by losing them for a second time.” Even though Hunter controlled when and how, it always unnerved him to think that the old man could see through his eyes.

“Master, we must talk. What you do NOT see is what we need to discuss. They know nothing of their powers! Allessia does not yet know of the fire inside her and Thana heard nothing when I spoke to her with my mind. Even the simplest of magics are not theirs yet! I am certain they know nothing of The Light. And Master – the Dark Ones have already made their first move…”

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Back at the table, Allessia once again had tears streaming down her cheeks in amusement. “Oh my god, that is hilarious, Thana! I can’t believe he was wearing lingerie under his coat! Was it a joke, or was he being serious??”

Thana struggled to talk through her own laughter “He was TOTALLY serious! He wanted to show me that he could be a man OR a woman, that he would play ANY part I could get him….But when he said his name was Richard Robert, all I kept thinking was ‘Dick Bob! Dick Bob! His name is Dick Bob!’ I couldn’t keep a straight face!”

Ally grabbed a napkin from under her drink and started clearing the tears away from her eyes, attempting to keep her eyeliner from running all down her face. “Oh, geez, I would have laughed in his face and had him kicked out of the building. What the hell did you say?”

“Oh, Lisa buzzed me with a call, so I told him it was important and I would see what I could do. But, hey, now that I am thinking about it, I really meant to tell you about that phone call - It really creeped me out.” Thana’s face was serious now, all signs of laughter were gone.

“Who was it?” Ally leaned forward, giving Thana her full attention. She could see the fear in her friend’s eyes, and she knew the conversation had taken a serious turn.

“Well, they didn’t say. The voice was so quiet I could barely hear, but they said they had called to warn me.”

“Warn you? About what?!”

“Well, that’s what was creepy. All he said was ‘You are in danger; the Dark Ones seek you both. See the light inside and hear their minds. I will contact you again if you endure.’ What do you think that means, Ally? And when he says ‘both’, do you think that means me and you?”

“Ladies, should I get us another round?” Hunter’s voice startled the women, Allessia jumped and knocked over what was left of her drink.

“Oh, shit! Well, yes, I’ll definitely need another drink… dammit…”

“I’m didn’t mean to scare you! I’m so sorry. You know what? Why don’t we just head over to the bar and I will find someone to come clean that up.”

Nodding in agreement, they gathered their things and turned around, to find Roni standing in front of them.

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at Hunter. She clearly didn’t like him much. “Hunter, you should not be here,” her words fought their way through her thick accent. She stared at him for a second, and you could almost see the hatred swimming in her eyes. With a dismissive wave of her hand she declared “But you no matter…I have come to fetch the girls…you will, of course, accompany us, yes? Darling Max’s entertainment will be starting in a few minutes. I think you will very much enjoy this show of his.”

Thana and Ally exchanged glances. “Max is putting the show on? What does he work here now or something? What kind of a show would Max be doing? Showing everyone how to take shots, or hit 2 clubs before closing?” Allessia said, laughing. Max had never had a real job…was not a “on the payroll” kind of guy. What the hell was going on here?

“Max is like family, and it is insult for you to disrespect my kin. You dare say these things after the generosity we have shown you here tonight?” Roni was obviously getting pissed.

Thana spoke up “You know what, I think we have had enough of your generosity for one night. Please tell the others thank you, but I think we will be heading home now.”

Roni turned on her heel and sauntered up to Thana. She closed the space between them, slowly. She did not stop until she was almost pressing herself against Thana’s breasts. “I will say when you leave, and the time is not now. You both will follow me. You will follow me now! There is no choice here!”

Thana froze as she stared at Roni. Her skin felt as if someone had taken broken glass and rubbed it down her skin. It stung and burned, and she bit her tongue so she wouldn’t scream. She wanted to follow. She needed to follow. She wanted Roni to be pleased, she wanted to make her happy, whatever it took, she would do it. ‘No this isn’t right. I don’t want to go with her!’ she tried to tell herself.

“Ally?” Thana yelled. “Help me, Ally!” Ally immediately reached for her friend when she was pulled in the opposite direction. She turned and was looking right into Max’s face. But it wasn’t Max. It was something darker.

“You guys missed the show, so I figured I would come to you,” He said, with a look in his eyes that made Allessia think of a tiger at the zoo. The look that says ‘don’t mess with me or I will just fucking eat you’. That is what Max looked like and it scared the hell out of her. She glanced at Hunter but he was staring at Thana and Roni. He started to move towards them and Max moved into his path to stop him. “Your brother wants to see you too,” Max said. Hunter was still watching Roni and Thana, his eyebrows burrowed together, looking very concerned.

Oh shit, what is happening? “Thana? Are you ok?”

As soon as Thana had spoken before, she felt her throat begin to close, and a sharp tug deep within her. She couldn’t speak. She didn’t even recognize her friend’s voice. Her mind was consumed with the need to do what Roni asks. ‘I have to go with her now! GO NOW!’ her mind screamed. Roni let a slow sly grin creep across her dainty mouth. The bigger the smile got, the harder it seemed to tug against her insides. Roni’s lips parted, and behind those lips, Thana saw 2 points…fangs. Holy shit, what is this woman?